“The Supreme Court stands as Nigeria’s last hope – the final firewall that can rescue democracy by exposing the plot, restoring legitimate leadership and allowing the ADC to rise as the genuine opposition force the country desperately needs”.
BY MOHAMMED BELLO DOKA
Nigeria’s democracy is gasping for breath as the African Democratic Congress (ADC) – the only opposition party with the numbers, funding, coalition muscle and sheer political will to field a credible presidential candidate in 2027 – is being deliberately torn apart from within. Critics have screamed from the rooftops that the Tinubu presidency and the ruling APC are the hidden hands orchestrating this entire crisis to neuter the opposition and clear the path for another unchallenged victory. Every twist, every turn, every suspicious move has pointed squarely at state sponsorship – and then, boom, came the explosive Gbajabiamila video that blew the lid off the conspiracy for all to see.
It began with Nafiu Bala himself. The man publicly resigned his position, took to his social media handles, and celebrated Senator David Mark as chairman and Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola as secretary. He was right there at the event, smiling, shaking hands, fully part of the new leadership. Then, all of a sudden, the dramatic U-turn. Only one logical conclusion fits: the government is funding and directing him.
Boom! INEC swoops in and delists the entire David Mark-led leadership based on a court order that says status quo ante Belum should be maintained. Nigerians everywhere asked the obvious question: Does the ADC have no leadership before this crisis erupted? The party had a clear, recognised structure – until this manufactured chaos. Everything, rightly or wrongly, screams state-sponsored sabotage designed to keep the ADC too fractured to challenge the presidency.
And the double standards? While major opposition leaders, former governors and ministers have their security details stripped away, leaving them exposed and vulnerable, Nafiu Bala moves like a president – heavily guarded, living large in one of the most expensive hotels in Abuja. The message is loud and clear: cross the government and you’re on your own; play their game and you get presidential-level protection.
Then came the ultimate bombshell – the House of Representatives member’s wife’s birthday celebration. There, in front of the most powerful and most influential APC figures who dominated the event, President Tinubu’s Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, was caught on camera urging the rep member to stay in the ADC, fight them, scatter them, hold on to the party and never abandon it. He even told the lawmaker to bring Nafiu to him, promising full support and “good luck in court.” The video is out. The words are damning. The gathering of APC heavyweights celebrating as if it were their own victory party leaves no doubt whose interests are being served.
Tomorrow, April 22, the Supreme Court hears the accelerated appeal that will decide the fate of the ADC. If it rules in Nafiu’s favour, no one in Nigeria – not a single citizen – will believe the court has not been compromised. The last credible opposition platform, backed by heavyweights like Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi and others who adopted the ADC as their big-tent vehicle for 2027, will be neutralised. Democracy will have been assassinated in broad daylight.
This is the moment of truth. The Supreme Court stands as Nigeria’s last hope – the final firewall that can rescue democracy by exposing the plot, restoring legitimate leadership and allowing the ADC to rise as the genuine opposition force the country desperately needs. Or it can bow to the presidency, become the willing tool that destabilises the nation, destroys the last vestige of multi-party competition and hands Nigeria over to one-party hegemony and total instability.
The gavel is about to fall. Nigeria is watching. History is waiting. Will the Supreme Court save democracy – or bury it?
…Mohammed Bello Doka can be reached via bellodoka82@gmail.com
